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(CNN)<\/cite>Emma Raducanu got off to a winning start on her Australian Open debut, defeating Sloane Stephens 6-0 2-6 6-1 at Margaret Court Arena. <\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (CNN)Emma Raducanu got off to a winning start on her Australian Open debut, defeating Sloane Stephens 6-0 2-6 6-1 at Margaret Court Arena. 19-year-old Raducanu, playing in her first Grand Slam match since winning the US Open last year, stormed through the first set in just 17 minutes against Stephens, herself a US Open champion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\n19-year-old Raducanu, playing in her first Grand Slam match since winning the US Open last year, stormed through the first set in just 17 minutes against Stephens, herself a US Open champion in 2017.<\/p>\nBut the momentum turned in Stephens’ favor in the second set when the American broke Raducanu three times to level Tuesday’s match. <\/p>\nRaducanu battled through some long rallies in the final set, taking a 5-0 lead and ending the match just before midnight (8am ET) in Melbourne. <\/p>\n“Both me and Sloane really gave our all and gave everything we had,” said Britain’s Raducanu during her on-pitch interview. <\/p>\n\n“I felt it was a really quality match with some very long rallies. I am very happy to have come through against such a great winner like her.\u201d<\/p>\nFollowing her sensational US Open triumph last year, Raducanu endured a difficult run of results in October and November and said she was still “adjusting to the fast-paced life of the Tour”. <\/p>\n\nIn December, she tested positive for Covid-19 ahead of an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi and returned to action in Sydney earlier this month. <\/p>\nHer next match at the Australian Open will be against Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, with two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep a potential third-round opponent. <\/p>\nREAD: Tennis Australia deeply regrets the impact of the Novak Djokovic saga on players<\/p>\nAnother British player, Andy Murray, also got off to a winning start on Tuesday, beating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7 6-4.<\/p>\nPlaying in his first Australian Open since 2019, Murray beat Basilashvili for the second time in a week after also triumphing in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open. <\/p>\nThis time, the three-time Grand Slam champion showed the same courage and determination that shaped Murray’s playing career. <\/p>\n“It’s been a tough, tough three, four years. We put in a lot of work to come back here,” said Murray, who considered retiring after the Australian Open three years ago before undergoing career-saving hip surgery.<\/p>\n\n\u201cI thought I might have played my last match here, but to win a five-set fight like this again is amazing. I can’t ask for more.”<\/p>\nElsewhere in the men’s draw, second-seeded Daniil Medvedev, finalist at last year’s tournament and arguably the favorite this year after Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal, defeated Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 7-6.<\/p>\nThere was also a straight win for home favorites Nick Kyrgios over Britain’s Liam Broady to set up a second-round clash against Medvedev. <\/p>\n